So I've been thinking about becoming a vegan. My list of reasons for considering this shift are probably not particularly interesting to anyone besides me, but since I haven't made a final decision yet, the verbal processing might help (me, not you).
First of all, I'm getting older and my weight seems to get harder to maintain with each year. It seems like I'm running more and eating less and still struggling to get results. I know that eating vegan isn't necessarily a magic pill for weight loss, but it might be a weapon in my arsenal. My weight isn't the only health concern. My family history includes heart disease and diabetes and although there isn't complete consensus in the scientific community it seems to be generally accepted that vegan eating may be a way to fight against those maladies.
Lastly, I have been dealing with a stuffy nose most of my life, and lately, have been wondering if it might not be a sign of an allergy, possibly a dairy allergy. Eating vegan, as opposed its less strict cousin, vegetarian, will give me the chance to evaluate my life without dairy.
I realize that I just wrote three paragraphs on why I am thinking of becoming vegan without even addressing the reason most people eat vegan, which is to live without harming animals. I have to admit this hasn't always been a huge deal to me. I could live with the idea that animals die so that I can eat. However, over the past few years, I've had to confront the fact that the way that most animals destined for our table live and die in this country is horrible and cruel. I can't keep hiding my head in the sand of not knowing that factory farming exists. And even more than existing is probably where most of the meat on my table comes from.
And so now, i can't quite live anymore with the idea that I am perpetuating these practices by buying and eating animals. Maybe there are ways to still eat animals without being a part of this system, but for now, i just want to explore ways to eat without animals.
